2020 By the Numbers

The year 2020 is mere hours away from appearing in our rear view mirrors, and what a year it was to remember!

While our community has faced significant challenges that have impacted generations, we have also grown together through perseverance, resilience, and ingenuity.

While there is plenty to look back and term as “bad” when referencing 2020, there was a lot of “good” that came from the way our community rallied around each other in during a time of great need. We still have a ways to go before we can finally clear these obstacles, but when we come out on the other side, our community will be stronger because of the way we collectively chose to respond.

We applaud our business community for making the best out of these difficult circumstances. Despite the pandemic, we saw new businesses formed and launched, and celebrated nearly 20 Grand Openings across our community this year. We saw businesses forced to reimagine their operation work tirelessly to develop new products and services that will make them efficiently reach more customers moving forward. We’ve seen the value of local connections, from bankers and financial advisors that helped secure PPP loans with a personal phone calls to customers, to businesses that created local supply chains to benefit one another. Our neighbors have supported us and served as sounding boards for new ideas on how to combat the challenges we’ve faced.

On behalf of our entire staff, it’s been our pleasure to provide assistance to you this year. We’ve jumped into new opportunities ourselves, and welcome the feedback we’ve received from our members about how best we can supply support as we move through a sea of evolving challenges.

In the year ahead, we remain committed to communicating new guidelines and information, providing educational opportunities that can lead toward future success, and serving as a strong advocate for our entire business community. We trust your Chamber membership has provided you great value this year, and that you will continue to help us make our organization as strong as the community we support.

Here's to 2021!

David Jackson, President/CEO